College Bound

In the ever changing college world there is one constant.  Our sons and daughters graduate from high school and become freshman.  Sure, this year might not be your year, but it will come.  Trust me I know.  This year is my year for my oldest. 

This is a trying time for parents.  Anxiety runs high.  We're not only giving up something we have loved and nurtured for 18 years, we are also concerned about how to pay for it all.  If you were smart, you planned.  You have at least a little nest egg to pay for the first year.  After that, it is downright scary the costs involved.

Let's take my daughter's circumstance.  We looked (wow did we look!) at many different colleges and universities.  The sticker shock is still with me.  Most tabulate to about $25,000 to $30,000 per year.  I remember 20 years ago that mine cost about $5,000.  How did we march from that to five to six times as much in a 20 year frame?  Amazing.

I am a proud father.  My daughter is an extraordinary child.  She's bright.  Has a great sense of humor (yes, that would be from me!).  Plus, she works hard and attempts things I wouldn't have even dreamed at her age.  I know of only one 12 year old that has directed a bunch of adults at our church.  Why did she do that?  The choir director asked her -- a 12 year old -- to fill in for him.  She did it seamlessly, and more impressively the adults respected her.  Now that, is extraordinary.

Now back to my daughter.  She researched (see my article on value) and came to her own conclusion.  She would attend a local community college for her first year.  She qualified for their honors program and further pushed her total scholarship to $24,000.  She is tenacious when she knows what she wants.  She wanted this.  Further, she called Western Kentucky University and went through each class that would transfer -- credit by credit with one of their counselors.  Her first year will be free and with the extra smaller scholarships she gained (by sheer work ethic and applying to dozens of them) she'll be able to take more classes this summer.

No doubt that college can be daunting.  I am lucky.  I have a child that does most of the work herself.  She asks our advice and she weighs it.  She makes her decision and goes for it.  No looking back.  She made an informed choice.  I think she'll have few regrets in that regard.

As far as the emotional part of letting go, that is our burden to bear.  I want her to succeed in all that she does or reaches for.  Now, I must take the role of spectator.  It won't be easy.  I still find myself desiring to have my little girl cuddle up on the couch to watch TV with Dad.